Fablehaven: Journey to the Eternals' Pass
by magichasprices
Summary: Kendra Sorenson thought her life could be relatively normal after they defeated the demons of Zzyzx, until suddenly magical creatures start to lose control of their own minds, and they are forced to journey to uncover a secret so legendary it is believed to be a myth. The Pass of Eternals may be the only thing that can overcome the sinister shadows, but at what cost?
1. Chapter 1: Seth

**1: Seth**

Kendra Sorenson thought her brother couldn't possibly get more annoying. Apparently, she was wrong.

Seth had done some pretty outrageous things in the past, but sneaking into and crashing her sort-of-date took the cake.

She was actually having a normal day for once-going for class, complaining about homework, having lunch with her friends-a perfect day away from the slight insanity at Fablehaven, a secret preserve for magical creatures, where she lived full-time with her grandparents.

Sitting in a dark movie theater with her sort-of-boyfriend, who'd managed to slip away from his duties in the fairy realm for the evening, she felt like a regular girl on a regular date. Well, if you ignored the fact that her date was a swoon-worthy unicorn who was, despite looking like a high school senior, hundreds of years old.

"Kendra." Bracken whispered, making Kendra jump. "You okay? You're really quiet all of a sudden."

"It's a movie." Kendra replied.

"A _comedy._"

Even though it was pitch black, she could still see Bracken's handsome, concerned features perfectly well. "It's a romance, too."

"Which _you _chose." Bracken pointed out in a hushed voice.

Kendra shrugged. In the darkness, with rows of empty seats around them (the movie was just about ending its run), she was nervous. Nothing should spoil this, but she had a horrible certainty that it was going to be screwed up somehow.

And she was right.

Bracken locked eyes with her and her stomach flipped as he slowly started edging towards Kendra's first kiss. Suddenly a seemingly empty chair behind them shuddered, yelped extremely loudly, and dumped a box of sticky popcorn on Kendra's head.

In a flash, Bracken whipped around and grabbed the previously invisible offender.

Holding the empty popcorn box and looking guilty, Seth Sorenson held up both hands in a surrendering gesture. "_Seth?!"_ Kendra cried.

"Don't kill me!" Seth yelped, seeing Bracken's hand already on his hidden sword, which the unicorn and son of the Fairy Queen had instinctively gone for. "I'm innocent!"

Bracken released Kendra's brother, frowning slightly.

Kendra glared furiously at Seth, folding her arms. The few other people in the cinema were starting to stare, and she hissed through her teeth, "what are you doing here?" She hoped Seth couldn't see her, because her cheeks were burning red.

"Watching you-I mean, watching the movie," snickered Seth slightly lamely, pointing at the screen. "Hey, Bracken. I didn't know you were into this sort of stuff. Or," he added, puckering his lips, "did you just come here to smooch?"

Seth couldn't see Bracken blushing, but Kendra could. "Shut up, Seth!" Kendra whispered angrily. "How did you even get in here?"

Seth glanced at the people shooting annoyed looks at them and gave his sister a look.

"Fablehaven stuff?" She growled.

He gave her another look.

"This show is for mature audiences sixteen and above, doofus. Not immature boys who like annoying their sisters."

Seth poofed out his cheeks. "Just doing my job."

"Well, you're fired." Kendra snapped. "Now would you please get out of here before someone notices you?"

Seth pointed at the people turning curiously-not to mention angrily-around. "I think they already did. Besides, you can't fire the CEO."

"Just get out!"

Seth shrugged and, rummaging in what Kendra recognised as his emergency kit (formerly a cereal box, now a leather satchel), he pulled out a glove. Formerly the property of Coulter Dixon, it had been passed to their friend Warren Burgess, who had given it to Seth for his birthday. Tipping her an infuriating wink, he pulled it on and promptly turned invisible when he was sure no one else was looking.

Meanwhile, she realised Seth's absence had made things a little awkward between her and Bracken, who leaned back in his seat in uncomfortable silence.

"You have popcorn in your hair." He murmured finally.

Kendra sighed. "I'm going to kill Seth."

"Kendra back." A gravelly voice rumbled when Kendra and Bracken entered the grounds of the house just as night started to fall, the darkness slowly seeping over the colours of the sunset.

"Hey, Hugo." Kendra smiled, waving at the ten-foot-tall, earthy golem who headed towards them, not perfectly steady nor balanced, but walking nonetheless. The golem broke out into a clumsy, slightly lopsided grin.

"Kendra!" Another voice, higher and clearer this time, chirped happily. A large, fluttering shape landed on the ground with a thud in front of her. Raxtus, a small dragon who, as a result of being raised by fairies, had the ability of making things grow as a breath weapon, but had his father's impenetrable scales and diamond-hard claws.

"Hi, Raxtus." Kendra said slightly suspiciously now, with less enthusiasm. It seemed a little strange that so many people were around the very first time she had an opportunity to do something with Bracken.

Raxtus beamed at her, his tail flicking back and forth. "How was your day?"

Kendra's suspicions rose. "Fine." She said, eyeing him. "Why do you ask?"

He looked a little uncomfortable. "Just asking."

"Hello, Kendra," a light, airy voice said in her ear. She jumped. A tiny fairy, with short blueberry-coloured hair, violet eyes and floaty silver wings, smiled at her.

"Shiara." Kendra greeted, but regarding the welcome trio in a different perspective now.

"Hey, Shiara." Bracken smiled at the fairy, who returned the gesture wholeheartedly. Her wings fluttered in excitement.

"Bracken! How nice to see you! How was your night?"

Now Bracken cocked a brow. "Good. Fine. Is there a reason why all of you are suddenly so interested in our daily schedule?"

"Oh, no..." Raxtus muttered. "Just wanted to know. That's all."

Kendra put her hands on her hips. "Okay, who sent you out to spy on us? Seth was in the theatre, now you three are here. Was it mom? Dad? Grandpa?"

"I-" Raxtus opened his mouth guiltily, but before he got the chance to confess, a mass of sparkles mobbed their vicinity.

Bracken laughed and grinned as the fairies darted excitedly around him. As a unicorn, and the son of the Fairy Queen, he was probably the most highly regarded person in the fairy realm after the Queen herself. Of course, it helped that he was visually stunning. "You all look beautiful." He assured them.

The already gleeful fairies became hyperactive at the compliment, whipping around so fast that Kendra could hardly see Bracken anymore. Shiara looked as though she was tempted to join her sisters, but firmly planted herself on a low-hanging tree branch nearby.

"Oh, look, Kendra's back." A snide fairy voice said in Slivian, the fairy language. Kendra's status as fairykind meant that she could hear fairy languages as clearly as English, and recently she'd started learning how to distinguish different languages from the other.

A few fairies strayed away from the excitement that was Bracken to survey her primly. Primarily vain, the fairies still had not completely taken a liking to her, save a few such as Shiara, but they certainly liked her more than they liked Seth, Kendra reflected with a grin, after all, their first stay at Fablehaven, he had accidentally turned one of them into an imp.

"She still looks as boring as ever," sniffed another.

"And she _still _gets Bracken's favour." A fairy with dark skin and exotic glossy hair muttered.

"And she can still hear you." Kendra reminded them. The third fairy scoffed, putting her nose up in the air and fluttering haughtily away with the other two. Her gaze straying to the house, she noticed a movement in the attic window and trained her vision upon it.

Her brother Seth frantically waved from the window, mouthing something. She didn't know what he was up to, but after his little theatre stunt, she wasn't keen to trust him completely. Even as she gave a shake of her head, Seth started jumping up and down, trying to draw her attention. Both his arms were flailing now.

Kendra sighed. "Bracken," she started. After a moment without a reply, she glanced back. Bracken was still enjoying the company of about a kazillion fairies who all adored him. "Bracken," she said, more sharply, as Seth's face morphed into worry and he glanced behind him. "_Bracken."_ She said firmly, grabbing his wrist and pulling him out of the mob.

"Hm?" Bracken said, then shook his head. "Sorry, Kendra. Did you need something?"

"I think Seth's in trouble." Kendra said, pointing at the person in question.

Bracken frowned. "Normal trouble, or trouble trouble?"

"I think trouble trouble."

Bracken nodded. "I can send a few fairies up there while we make our way up."

"I can too."

Bracken smiled slightly. "No offence, Kendra, but I think they like me slightly better than they like you."

"That's probably true." Kendra admitted. "I'll go ahead."

"Thank you."

Kendra headed off towards the house with Hugo and Raxtus trailing behind her like bodyguards while Bracken, in that simple, firm voice of his, arranged for several fairies to fly up to the attic and relay any news directly to him. Excited volunteers were soon shooting off one by one.

Job done, Bracken jogged and easily caught up to Kendra. "All right, let's go see what your brother's up to now."

Kendra and Bracken made their way up to the attic playroom where Kendra and Seth slept. As they got closer, they realised that Seth really wasn't fooling around-sounds of a scuffle came from behind the door. Kendra's eyes widened, and, running up the last flight of stairs three at a time, she dashed for the door.

It was locked.

"Kendra," Bracken warned. She quickly stepped aside as he obliterated the door with a slash of his knife.

"KENDRAAAA!" Seth yelled as he jumped onto Kendra's bed. A heavy object whacked the spot he'd been standing in seconds ago. "HELP MEEE!"

Kendra located the problem easily: a tall wooden limberjack chasing after Seth with what could almost be described as vengeance. She hesitated for a moment, not sure what to do. Bracken didn't have the same problem. Drawing both his knives now-an alternate form for his horns-he launched forward with astonishing speed and tackled the wooden puppet with a graceful leap across the room, pinning him to the ground.

"Don't destroy him!" Seth yelled from his position on Kendra's pillow. She sighed. If he was going to get someone's pillow covered with dirt and boot marks, he could at least have the decency to make it his.

Bracken had his blade poised to turn the puppet into firewood. "Then what?"

"Can't you... freeze him or something?"

Bracken glanced at Seth, then at the window, where fairies hovered, peering in. "I'm a unicorn, Seth."

"Can the fairies do it?" Seth pleaded. "Seriously. I don't want him to be destroyed again."

"He was trying to destroy you!"

"Maybe he's had a bad day. Maybe he found Kendra's diary too mushy. Please don't destroy him."

Bracken sighed. "The fairies might be able to help. Kendra, would you open the window?"

She complied and the fairies flitted in. They perched around Bracken, and Kendra could hear them complaining. Oh no, not the puppet again. How many times are we going to have to go through this? Bracken gestured, and rose. Mendigo leapt to his feet again, only to be blasted by a flash of light.

When the blinding light receded, Mendigo was frozen in place. "You didn't take the magic out of him, did you?" said Seth suspiciously.

The fairies turned up their noses at him. Bracken repeated the question in Slivian. They replied by shaking their heads, and a couple rolled their eyes at Seth's question. Bracken dismissed them, and turned to Seth. Kendra went over to Mendigo and frowned. The puppet, after having been destroyed by poison in the dragon sanctuary Wyrmroost, had been restored by the wizard Agad, and had been consistently un-evil... until now.

"What happened?" Bracken asked, voicing Kendra's thoughts.

"I don't know." Seth said, looking worried, clambering down from Kendra's bed and leaving a trail of black prints. "We were, um, going through my stuff, and he suddenly went berserk." Kendra looked around. There were a lot of things on the ground, but none of it looked like Seth's. The mess on the floor was made up of coins, small rings, a couple of little statuettes, and dozens of DVD cases.

"Have you been trading with the satyrs again?" Kendra demanded to know.

"Um... what gives you that idea?"

Kendra raised an eyebrow. "I thought grandpa got them a proper TV."

"Yeah, but... they wanted movies." Seth said, gesturing at the various DVDs on the ground. "They offered to trade."

"And you agreed?"

"Hey, I need money, okay?"

Kendra groaned. "You couldn't have gotten a job like a normal kid? Grandpa's going to be furious when he finds out. You're really immature, Seth."

"I'm not the one who froze there while her brother was being attacked by an insane wooden puppet and left her boyfriend to defend me. "

"That is not immaturity." Kendra said indignantly. "It's..." she faltered to come up with a word. "It's something." She said haughtily. "But it's not immaturity."

"Whatever, miss immaturity." Seth scoffed. He walked over to Mendigo, frowning as he inspected the puppet. "Something weird's going on, and I don't mean you two."

Kendra ignored the jibe to focus on the more pressing matter at hand. It hadn't been a long time since the demon prison Zzyzx had been opened, releasing hundreds of demons, leaving Bracken to guide the fairy army, the astrids, as well as Kendra and her friends to fight them. Now that the demons were safely contained in what used to be the fairy realm, the Fairy Queen had taken over the former Zzyzx and the rebuilding of her kingdom was ongoing.

"We should tell an adult." She said firmly.

Seth groaned. "That isn't the solution for everything, Kendra. Oh, I broke my arm, let's go tell an adult, ooh, I lost at monopoly, let's go tell an adult, ooh, Seth stole my cookie, ooh, my boyfriend broke up with me, ooh-" Kendra whacked her brother with her dirty pillow.

"Shut up, Seth, this isn't a time to joke around. We need to tell grandpa that Mendigo tried to attack you."

"Tried to attack me? Kendra, he did attack me!"

"I agree with Kendra," Bracken said, "you should tell Stan."

"Tell Stan what?" Warren Burgess, who was passing by, poked his head into the room and surveyed the damage. "Seth, what on earth-" he looked at the door, which had a large crack running through it.

"It wasn't me who destroyed the door, it was Bracken." Warren looked at Seth as though he was crazy. Unlike Seth, Bracken did not generally go around destroying things and making trouble. "Mendigo was attacking me," Seth explained. Warren looked at Bracken and Kendra to make sure Seth wasn't lying. They both nodded shortly for confirmation. Warren glanced at Mendigo.

"Tell Stan." He agreed. "This is worrying."

The four of them trooped downstairs to find grandpa, Warren and Bracken carrying Mendigo between them. As they neared the kitchen, an annoyed voice floated out of the open doorway. "-really, I'm a couple of gifts away from shooting them."

Kendra popped into the kitchen, interested by Vanessa Santoro's conversation with Mara. Vanessa, a narcoblix capable of controlling people in their sleep, was a knockout of a young lady, skilled in combat and in other various areas. Vanessa and Mara were seated at the table, drinking coffee. A large pile of items was heaped on the table, including various suspiciously familiar jewellery.

"Hi, Kendra." Vanessa said tiredly, gesturing at the gifts. "A mixture of presents for you and me."

Kendra's brow furrowed for a moment until she picked up a necklace with her name tagged on it. Light dawned on her. "He didn't-"

"Yes, he did." Vanessa said irritably. "Those morons are under the impression that heaping gold on me is going to somehow magically make me their girlfriend." Vanessa sighed and took a long drink of her coffee.

Both Vanessa and Kendra had, along the way at their time in Fablehaven, acquired satyr suitors. Seth's television-loving friends, Newel and Doren, were infatuated with the beautiful blix and had been attempting to get her to like them. Their latest attempt now sat on the kitchen table in front of Kendra, who had also recieved more than a few gifts from Verl, a lovestruck satyr who had decided he was in love with Kendra.

"How was your date?" Mara asked, raising an eyebrow inquisitively.

"It was fine." Kendra said. "Until Seth snuck in."

"Seth what?" Vanessa said. "I thought Seth was grounded."

It suddenly dawned on Kendra that her brother was indeed supposed to be grounded. Vanessa and Mara saw her expression and laughed. "It's all right, Kendra, boys will be boys." Vanessa jerked her head at the gifts. "Forever. Just look at Bracken."

"How are things with you and Warren?" Kendra retorted.

It was Vanessa's turn to look uncomfortable. "Fine." She said. For the past few weeks, Vanessa and Warren had been going out, although they pretended they weren't. Vanessa wasn't Bracken's biggest fan, but after the unicorn had announced that Vanessa liked Warren, it was found that the feeling was mutual.

At that moment, something crashed down the hallway, followed by an ear-piercing wailing. Raised, urgent voices hit the air sharply. Vanessa looked at Mara and the two stood up simultaneously, their chairs scraping against the floor.

Kendra had a bad feeling that something had happened with Warren, Bracken and Seth. As she darted out into the hallway, she found she was right-and it could not possibly be worse.


	2. Chapter 2: Mendigo

**2: Mendigo**

"This is impossible!" Bracken was yelling. He was tensed up, ready for a fight, but at the same time, Kendra could see the shock on his face. Fairy magic had never failed before-and never so spectacularly.

"How'd this happen?" Kendra shouted, cautiously eyeing the mass of poised wooden limberjacks. She realised something even as she did. "Are they all... are they all _Mendigo?"_

"Yes!" Seth moaned. "The fairies' magic must have screwed up... I told you they didn't like me!" He was gripping a wooden bat and his eyes darted from one Mendigo to another.

Kendra looked at Warren. "He came alive," Warren said, "and _multiplied. _One moment there was just one. The next, there were dozens just materialising out of thin air." He gestured at the limberjacks. "The thing is, they haven't attacked, so we don't know-"

"Seth!" Bracken hollered, and Seth leapt back in shock as a limberjack thudded to the ground at his feet still clawing feebly, Bracken's sword impaling it through its body and pinning it to the floor. The three limberjacks nearest to Warren leapt at him, a flurry of wooden limbs. Each of them as tall as Warren was and incapable of pain or feeling, they were a formidable opponent, and Warren, caught off guard, was already struggling.

Suddenly the rest of the limberjacks sprung into action. Several hurled themselves at Kendra, but were knocked off course by Vanessa Santoro, who had charged into the scene with a grim look on her face. The narcoblix surveyed the scene grimly, then launched herself into the fight. Mara was not far behind.

It was one of Kendra's more guilty moments. She had never been much help in a physical fight. She wasn't a fantastic fighter like Warren or Vanessa. She didn't even have Seth's mix of courage and sheer insanity. All she had-and at times like this, regrettably-were fairy powers which did not include magic for combat.

Still, there was no point feeling sorry for herself at a time like this. She'd just have to use whatever she had. Which, in this case, meant the large golden orb she had spied among the presents earlier.

She raced back into the kitchen and scooped up the sphere. The second it came into contact with her skin, it began to glow a pure, brilliant white. It was magic. Excellent. Kendra rejoined the fight just in time to see a limberjack grappling with her brother. The ball was heavy and hot in her hands as her energy infused it.

Seth spotted Kendra. "Help me!" He yelled, attempting to keep the puppet's arms from throttling him. "Now would be a good time for some awesome fairy magic!"

"One second!" Kendra felt the ball hum beneath her fingers, and she knew it was ready. She hurled it at the limberjack, and it smashed into the puppet, bowling it over and cracking its body into splinters.

"Nice aim." Seth said, panting as he stood and picked up the ball. "Can I throw it?"

Kendra eyed her brother, who would gleefully send a wrecking ball into enemies. He might be able to use it more effectively than her. "Okay."

Seth grinned and with a powerful, arching throw knocked the head off a limberjack about to attack Warren. "Like coconuts at the carnival!" He whooped, diving in to retrieve his new favourite weapon. Kendra went to pick up Seth's abandoned bat and found herself being fairly good with it.

Although the limberjacks had the advantage in numbers, they had no thoughts, and were ineffective as a group. On the other hand, Kendra and Seth soon discovered that with the bat and orb, they could take down more than one limberjack with some strategising and careful placement. "Go long!" Seth yelled, a crazy grin on his face as he hurled the ball through the air. It smashed into one limberjack and Kendra whacked it with the bat, changing its course and sending it barrelling into another puppet. Seth cheered and ducked to get the sphere. "Again!"

"Nice batting, Kendra," Vanessa remarked as she took out a limberjack by dismantling it. The wooden limbs clattered onto the floor. Kendra glanced around the room and found the scatterings of dozens of wooden puppets lying mournfully on the floor.

"What about me?" Seth was saying indignantly. "I threw it!"

Vanessa smirked. "Nice throwing, Seth." She plucked the ball from his hands and with a two-handed grip brought it straight down on a limberjack's head. Seth watched open-mouthed as the head cleaved into millions of splinters.

"_Cool." _He breathed. "Do that again!"

Vanessa obliged, and Kendra rolled her eyes as Seth leapt around like a hyperactive kid, cheering as the narcoblix whipped around causing maximum damage with the solid orb, her slim figure and grace betraying uncharacteristic strength. She was a born fighter. Kendra even found it vaguely unfair that Vanessa was beautiful, powerful and charming all at the same time.

As Vanessa was drawn into the fight, flashes of silver edged towards her, whipping through the air: Bracken, slicing through the puppets as easily as tissue paper, swords slashing with a magical grace. Between Vanessa, Bracken, Warren and some hollering and attempts from Seth, the puppets soon flopped feebly on the floor, no more dangerous than toys.

Vanessa tossed her hair and frowned down at the mess. "Stan isn't going to like this." She warned. "He's so convinced this house is safe."

"It normally is." Warren reminded her with a matching expression.

"What could have caused this?" Mara wondered, circling the mass of broken, splintered limberjacks. Kendra's eyes trailed her pacing.

"I didn't know Mendigo could multiply." Seth muttered to himself. "Which one is even the real one?"

Bracken was quietly lost in thought, but he met Kendra's worried glance reassuringly. "Tanu and Ruth are not on the premises, but the rest of us are still here. If this was an assassination attempt of sorts, it was a poorly planned one."

"Who would be trying to assassinate one of us?" Kendra asked, then realised it was a stupid question. In their time at Fablehaven, they had gained many friends, but made just as many enemies.

"My guess if they were after Seth, since he was attacked first and alone."

Vanessa's eyes darted to Seth. "When was this?" She said sharply, her voice accusing. "Why didn't I hear about it?"

"Didn't you tell her?" Bracken and Warren questioned Kendra in startled unison.

"I forgot." Kendra said sheepishly, trying to sound apologetic.

"Well, you can update me while we pick up this mess." Vanessa said shortly, eyeing the puppet parts with distaste. "And, Seth, I doubt it will be any small task finding the real Mendigo at this point."

"That's not a priority." Warren said tersely. "We've got to go inform Stan first. Bracken, come with me." He hesitated before adding, "Kendra, Seth, I suppose you'd better come along as well."

Looking excited at the prospect of escaping what would invariably be clean up duty, Seth skipped over wooden limbs to Warren. Kendra followed with a little less enthusiasm and a lot more apprehension.

Her grandfather was in his study, frowning over a letter. Kendra glanced at the minute fairy skull in its display case as she walked by; it seemed a lot less pretty, and a lot more scandalous now that she knew the Fairy Queen. Warren gave a little cough to announce their presence; Grandpa Sorenson looked up, startled, evidently having been too absorbed in what he was reading to notice them come in.

"Ah, Stan-"

"Grandpa, we got attacked by like a hundred Mendigos!" Kendra wished fervently Seth didn't sound so enthusiastic. At any rate, he should be letting Warren explain. Ever since Zzyxz, Seth was usually more mature than he used to be, but he still had little slips of his previous self from pre to early Fablehaven days. Such as now.

Grandpa Sorenson straightened and put down the letter, more creases forming between his eyebrows. He looked at Warren for clarification. "Attacked?" He inquired tersely when he had heard the story. "And what _do _you think happened?"

"Well, dark magic, for one-" Warren began, but was interrupted by Grandpa's "no, not you. Kendra."

Kendra was startled. "Me?"

"Yes. What do you think happened?"

"Um, I don't know. I mean, I kind of just came home and Mendigo was attacking Seth..." Kendra's voice trailed off sheepishly; she knew it wasn't the answer her grandfather wanted to hear. "Dark magic, like Warren said, I suppose." She frowned suddenly. "Grandpa, you don't think it's a demon or something like that, do you?"

"I don't think so." Grandpa Sorenson said, but unconfidently. "All the demons should now be in Zzyxz-I mean, the fairy kingdom-well, the new prison. On this property, none of the major demons or dark forces remain. Kurisock and Ephira, Graulas, the revenant, Muriel Taggert, Bahumat..." He ticked names off his fingers. "All killed or imprisoned."

Memories had resurfaced with each name. Lena, the naiad who had left her pond and sacrificed her life to end a plague that was falling over Fablehaven at the lair of Kurisock. Graulas, who had caused their friend Coulter Dixon to lose his life. The revenant, who had, for so many years, kept Warren in an albino state until destroyed by Seth. Muriel Taggert and Bahumat, the terrors of Kendra's first stay at Fablehaven, whom she had to enlist the help of the fairy army to destroy. So much death and destruction in those few names. Kendra almost shuddered.

"-outside sources?" Warren was saying in a low voice. "Other beings... you must have heard the stories..."

"I have heard them, but choose not to believe them." Grandpa Sorenson said curtly. "Impossible fairytales."

Kendra seemed to have missed a bit in her reverie. She looked at Seth, hoping for answers, and was surprised to find her brother listening attentively to Warren and Grandpa. She glanced sideways at Bracken, who seemed to be paying as close, if not more, attention to the conversation.

"Stan, you've seen Zzyxz, you've seen your own granddaughter become fairykind... are you still trying to tell me there are things you think are impossible?"

"These are." Grandpa Sorenson said. "It completely goes against everything we know. The thought of it is ridiculous."

"But it's the only plausible answer. Think, Stan. That case up North, the inexplicable deaths, seemingly safe houses penetrated by dark magic, it's the same, isn't it?" Warren leaned forward insistently. "Only those weren't secret preserves like this one. You'd need much more powerful magic to infiltrate the safety of Fablehaven, and whoever it was has done it. Who-or what-else could it be?"

"I refuse to believe it's possible."

"Refusal to believe-that's what mom and dad did, wasn't it? For ages and ages, even though you tried to show them?" Seth pointed out. "And they missed out on so many awesome things!"

"They also missed out on the demons, though, that's a good thing." Kendra reminded him.

"Well, nothing's perfect, is it? When you're past it all the demons were actually pretty cool."

"Cool enough to kill you."

"Yeah, I mean-"

"Enough." Grandpa Sorenson said wearily. "Bracken, you've been quiet... what say you on the matter?" He cast Warren a look as he spoke, as though daring Bracken to side with Warren.

"I don't think it's any of the demons we've encountered before, or even a force known to us." Bracken said carefully. "But I have to say it doesn't seem plausible that the legends are true, even if if appears to be the only solution."

"It fits in perfectly!" Warren cried.

"Do you know what these legends are?" Kendra whispered to Seth, finally unable to take not knowing.

"A little, from what they were saying just now. Apparently there are rumoured to be different kinds of magic," Seth said quietly as Warren, Bracken and Grandpa debated. "Different demons. Not like those in Zzyxz. From somewhere else all together."

"Where would they have come from?" Kendra asked, bewildered. "How? Why?"

"I don't know. Grandpa doesn't believe they're anything more than stories."

"I gathered." Kendra murmured. Warren was insistent that they were real. Grandpa was just as stubborn that they didn't exist. Bracken, born a diplomat, was caught uncertainly on the fence, not quite sure who to support.

"Bracken." Warren demanded. "You're the Fairy Queen's son. You must have heard _something..."_

Bracken frowned. Kendra felt the urge to smile because it was the exact same expression he'd had when she'd asked him what movie he'd wanted to watch. It was a slightly bewildered look, overwhelmed by the question. "There is... I suppose... my mother, the Queen, mentioned something once." He said hesitantly. "About greater evils than the demons of Zzyxz."

It felt like all warmth had been drained from the room. Warren didn't even look happy that he was right. _Greater evils _wasn't exactly what he had been hoping for. Grandpa looked defeated and sank into his chair, gesturing for Bracken to elaborate. The unicorn's frown deepened. He pushed his silvery hair away from his face. "Even I don't know much about it. Only that a long, long time ago, just after Zzyxz was created, they found dark creatures beyond their power to subdue. They could not defeat them, or imprison them as they did with the demons in Zzyxz, and thus banished them beyond this realm. No one quite knows where they were exiled to, exactly, but they were still very powerful, and the wizards who banished them almost died completing the spell. Several actually did. My mother could probably tell you more." He said finally.

Warren drummed his fingers on the table. "Stan, how many of the ancient wizards do we know?"

"Agad." Grandpa Sorenson answered. "You're not thinking of asking him about it?"

"As a matter of fact, that was exactly what I was thinking. Do you think I could take a trip to Living Mirage now?"

"No." Grandpa said firmly. "We need to wait for Ruth and the others to return so we can discuss this properly." As he finished speaking, the door burst open. It was Tanu.

"Sorry to interrupt," he said urgently, "but the rest of us would like to join in. We have things to report, and they're not good."


	3. Chapter 3: Twins

The large Samoan sat uneasily on the chair at Grandpa's request, followed closely by Grandma Sorenson. "As you know, Ruth and I were assisting the survivors of the preserve up North in their investigation regarding the attack-"

"Hang on." Seth interrupted. "Everyone keeps saying 'up North'. What happened 'up North'? How come Kendra and I don't know about it?"

"_I _know about it." Kendra told her brother. "Grandpa told us over breakfast a few days ago. It's not my fault you weren't listening."

"Was that the day Vanessa made those apple turnovers?" Seth questioned. "Yes? Well how can you blame me for not listening? Those were absolutely fantastic!" Kendra did, in fact, remember the apple turnovers and Vanessa's hidden talent for pastries. They had been good, but it was just like Seth to concentrate on the food instead of the news of the attack.

A preserve for magical creatures much like Fablehaven, located just a few miles north of their own home, had been invaded in the middle of the day, in bright daylight, past every spell keeping unwanted visitors out, and had left behind everyone in the preserve dead, as well as traces of dark magic lingering in the area. There had been fourteen people killed all together.

Recognition dawned on Seth's face as Kendra whispered it to him. It seemed he had been listening after all, to some extent. "But Tanu just said there were survivors." Seth looked at Tanu. "If everyone was killed, how are there survivors?"

"Not everyone was in the preserve at the time, and thank God they weren't." Grandma replied in Tanu's stead. "There were two children who were at school and a groundskeeper who had gone out for errands. The caretakers and everyone else were slain."

Grandpa nodded and reached for a piece of paper and a pen. "What did they say?"

"The two children are fourteen-year-old twins, Elaine and Darcy Long. They're half-Chinese. We believe that Darcy is fairystruck, which tallies with the preserve being largely a fairy preserve. He was able to tell us how the attack had affected the magical creatures in the preserve, namely, of course, the fairies. According to him, the fairies are significantly weaker than they were before. Meanwhile Elaine, who follows her father's stead in dealing with magical objects and spells, says that the breach shouldn't have been possible, in strong sunlight-which usually affects dark creatures to an extent-and with very potent barriers."

"Like those in Fablehaven?" Bracken asked, leaning forward.

Grandma nodded. "Or stronger. The Longs are a big believer in security."

"And what about the groundskeeper?"

"His name is Aaron. He started working there just over three weeks ago and knows very little of what conspired. The bulk of the information will be in the twins, because they are more closely related to the preserve and to the creatures."

"The premises?"

Tanu shook his head. "Ah, that's the thing. It's almost completely untouched. Seems the only things the attackers were going for were living things. It's near in perfect condition, like no attack did happen. Ruth and I are hard-pressed to get anything more out of the twins, so we were hoping that Kendra and Bracken could go down there, given their fairy abilities, and investigate further."

"Oh, come on!" Seth protested. "Why is it always Kendra and the unicorn? Does anyone forget that I'm the one who's a Shadow Charmer? Who actually does everything connected to dark stuff? But _no, _everyone just cares about the dream team!" He gestured. "The power couple!"

Tanu didn't look amused. "We were going to ask you to go along for that very reason, Seth." He said dryly. "But since you apparently have lost the maturity I thought you had..."

"Immature." Kendra coughed. Seth scowled at her before turning to Tanu pleadingly.

"You have to let me go! Please? I haven't seen anything really cool since those brownies went crazy and glitterfied the entire living room!"

Warren rubbed his temples. "May I please remind you who _cleaned up _that particular 'cool thing'?"

"Tanu, please?"

"Only if you stop teasing your sister." Grandma interjected.

Seth threw up his hands. "I promise! I'll never ever again say anything about how goofy Kendra gets when she looks at-" He caught his grandmother's look and closed his mouth abruptly. "I'll stop."

"When would you like us to go?" Bracken asked, to fill the awkward silence.

Grandma Sorenson looked at her husband. "I realise we've apparently got some matters on our hands here, Stan, but if it's all right with you I think they should go now with Tanu."

Grandpa nodded. "Be careful, kids. Don't be reckless."

Tanu was the first to rise. "Come on, you three. Follow me and prepare yourselves to meet the Long twins."

Kendra was rather enjoying Seth's newfound lack of speech. With a stern warning from both his grandparents that he was not to bother Kendra or Bracken in any way lest he be banned from future expeditions, he had faithfully held his tongue for the entire car journey. "So what's the issue with the twins?" Kendra asked from the backseat of the large car. The vehicle was specially made to accomodate Tanu's size.

"You'll see." Tanu said vaguely. "They are a little unusual, I suppose."

"Unusual in what way?" Bracken asked. His silvery hair fell over his face as he leaned forward and he swept it away impatiently.

"You should cut your hair." Kendra suggested.

Bracken looked scandalised. "I should not.'

"You're not _in _unicorn form, it's not like you have to have a mane." Kendra sighed. "And if it annoys you, why not just cut it off?"

Unable to come up with a suitable argument or simply unwilling to continue it, Bracken turned back to Tanu. "Unusual in what way?" He repeated.

"Well..." Tanu's expression was part-grimace part-amusement. "It's rather hard to describe."

Soon after they pulled up outside a large, fenced estate. "That's the preserve?" Kendra asked. She supposed there were spells put up to conceal the preserve, but her Fairykind abilities meant she could see past them. The preserve was nothing unusual, and appeared to be nothing more than a normal house with an unusually gigantic garden.

"There they are." Tanu said darky, getting out of the car.

Kendra eyed the house apprehensively. "It doesn't look attacked."

"Precisely. Come on."

Bracken, Seth and Kendra emerged from the car as well. The twins were partially visible through the window, slender and dark haired. "They don't look so bad." Seth remarked.

"They're not _bad._ Just... unusual."

As they walked up the path a dozen fairies flited up to Bracken. Kendra couldn't quite make out their words properly, given their bullet-speed voices at the moment, but she could detect their high-pitched hysteria. She raised an eyebrow questioningly at Bracken. He shrugged and looked subtly apologetic.

Tanu knocked twice on the door before not just one but both of the twins stood up to answer the door. Kendra was stunned by their similarity. It was almost impossible to tell the predominantly Asian twins apart except that Elaine had longer hair and more feminine features. Both had slim builds and the same slanted dark eyes. They were even dressed identically. However what was most unsettling was that their faces were completely devoid of emotion.

"Hello." Darcy said. His voice was as dead as his expression.

"Darcy, Elaine," Tanu greeted, "this is Bracken and Kendra and Seth Sorenson. They're here to help with the investigation."

Darcy pointed at Kendra. "She's fairykind."

Kendra stared at him. "How did you know that?"

"The fairies told me." Darcy said simply. "And your aura is dazzlingly bright." He nodded mechanically to Bracken. "So is his. But he's dark." His voice took on just the tiniest hint of suspicion when he looked at Seth, which Kendra suspected was the most emotion they were going to get out of him.

"Let's go inside." Tanu suggested. The twins stepped back simltaneously to let them enter, their faces still unreadable.

The party entered the living room, where Darcy and Elaine sat in one identical motion. Tanu beckoned to Seth before he could sit as well. "Elaine, if you could follow me, I'd like to speak to you and Aaron again." Then, in a lower voice, he murmured to Seth, "look around and see if you can sense anything amiss. Don't break anything."

Elaine rose and trailed after Tanu, leaving Bracken and Kendra facing the ever-expressionless Darcy. Kendra presumed it was because they all had fairy abilities. "If you're not comfortable with this we could go talk to the fairies first." Kendra suggested after a few moments' silence.

"There's nothing the fairies know that I don't," said Darcy bluntly. "They tell me everything." Kendra exchanged looks with Bracken. The wonder how the dark, dull teenager had become fairystruck had already crossed her mind more than once. It seemed that he had a perculiar affinity with the fairies. Even Bracken appeared thrown off guard.

"Well... okay. Could you tell us, then?"

"Tell you what?" Kendra could have sworn she saw a gleam in Darcy's narrow eyes when he spoke. No wonder Grandma and Tanu had been 'hard-pressed' to get an answer from the twins.

"What happened during the attack.'

The corner of Darcy's mouth twitched, breaking his mask for a moment. "I'm sure the fairies can tell you better than I can."

Kendra was getting annoyed with the boy. "You just said you know everything the fairies do!"

"I do." Darcy said, reverting back to his bland, monotonous voice.

Kendra felt like yelling at him. First Seth, now this guy. Exactly how many irritating boys was she going to encounter today? However she didn't get a chance to say anything as her aforementioned younger brother started yelling at the top of his voice from a few rooms down.

Remembering Mendigo, both Kendra and Bracken leapt to their feet just as Seth came hurtling into the room shouting, chased by large grey dog whose jaws snapped at Seth's waist. Bracken had already drawn his sword when Darcy threw himself forward and locked the animal in his arms. Kendra stared for a long time before realising that he was _petting _it. She also realised, upon a closer look, that it wasn't a dog as she had supposed, but a fully grown grey wolf. Needless to say, the realisation did not reassure her.

"The thing _jumped _me!" Seth was exclaiming. "I was at the back of the house, and it _jumped _me! Who keeps a _wolf _in their house?"

Darcy looked up. "He's ours." He said curtly, offended. "This is Canis."

Seth's jaw dropped. "He's your _pet?"_

"He is not a pet!" Kendra had to give Seth credit for soliciting this much reaction from the boy, but at the same time noticed that offending a boy with a wolf at his command might not be such a good idea. Darcy flicked back his hair and sat up, dropping his arms from around the wolf. Seth stepped back nervously. "He's a guardian on the preserve."

Kendra tilted her head. "Guardian?" She glanced at Bracken and Seth. She knew that they, like her, were thinking of the Guardians of the Eternals, magical beings charged to protect the Eternals at all times. "It's a shapeshifter?"

Darcy's forehead wrinkled. "Shapeshifter?"

"Never mind." She supposed he just meant a normal guardian, one who protected the preserve.

"Well, does Canis know anything about what happened during the attack, seeing as how you are apparently unwilling to divulge that information?" Bracken said dryly. He had been silent for the duration of the interrupted interview and Kendra was relieved to have him take over.

Darcy relaxed slightly and returned to his position on the sofa. With a short whistle the wolf joined him, its tail curling around Darcy. When they were both sitting, the lupine was taller than he was. Darcy inclined his head and motioned for them to take their seats. Still casting wary looks across at the large wolf, Seth sat beside Kendra.

"There isn't much to tell." Darcy said. Kendra was pleasantly surprised to find that his previous lack of emotion had melted away with the appearance of the wolf, and his voice was gentle. "It was a particularly busy day. There were several visitors coming in; a couple of fairy brokers, someone dealing in magical objects, things like that. Elaine and I were at school when the preserve was attacked. The fairies say that it suddenly became much colder, darker and quieter, and a sort of wave of exhaustion passed over all of them. The attack itself wasn't so much physical as magical. Fairies aren't allowed into the house, as you probably know, so they didn't see exactly what happened, but less than fifteen minutes later the darkness subsided and everyone had been killed."

Seth leaned forward so he could look at Darcy in disbelief. "You're kidding, right? You don't know what happened?"

Darcy fixed him with a cold look. "Do I seem psychic to you?" He said irritably. As if responding to his tone, the wolf tensed and growled.

Seth's brows knitted and he started to rise. "I'm just going to... go somewhere..." He edged out of the room. "Keep that wolf away!"

Kendra watched him leave, then turned back to Darcy appraisingly. "I think he's scared of your wolf."

Darcy, to Kendra's amazement, grinned. "I can't imagine why." He rubbed the wolf's back and curled his fingers in its fur with familiarity.

Seth didn't like the vibe he was getting off of Darcy Long. It wasn't just that the guy had a _wolf _as a guardian, or whatever, although seeing the wolf's unique golden eyes gleaming at him from the darkness was the biggest shock he'd had recently, but he also didn't trust the boy. Maybe it was another manifestation of the powers he'd been gaining since pulling out the nail from the revenant. He could sense something off about that boy, something he wasn't revealing.

Hoping that Elaine didn't have a wolf hiding somewhere as well, Seth continued his prowl of the house, staying as far away from Darcy and his scary wolf as possible. There was an insane amount of dark elements tainting the entire house, and probably the whole preserve as well.

Tanu was sitting in the kitchen with Elaine and an older man, who Seth assumed was Aaron, the groundskeeper. He hadn't gone in there yet, largely due to the fact that he was distracted by the other parts of the house. He felt as though there was still a looming dark presence on the preserve. Seth couldn't identify the exact problem. Sensing the concentrated dark elements in an area was one thing-knowing what those elements were was a different story all together. It wasn't anything he'd encountered before. And he'd encountered a lot of things.

Unfortunately, while on his self-initiated tour, he came across eight out of fourteen dead bodies. The first one had shocked him almost as much as the wolf, a lady keeled over on the floor, fear etched onto her face, cold and lifeless. She didn't appear injured or harmed in any way, and while magical fear could paralyse you, Seth had never heard of it killing anyone before.

In various places the other seven bodies were more or less in the same state, unharmed but terrified. Was it possible the dark energy emanated from the corpses, left over from the attacks? Possibly, but the bodies weren't the only source.

As Seth explored he found lots of carefully displayed magical objects as well as books and items revealing the owners' interest in fairies.

Seth ascended the last flight of stairs and found a lone door. The attic? he pushed the door open and it swung in to reveal the biggest bedroom yet. Seth could feel the trails of dark energy slithering out. Great. More dead people. He stepped in and found two bodies strewn across the floor. One look of the man's face and he knew-these were the twins' parents. The man was a bigger, older version of Darcy, tall and lean and with dominant Asian features. Seth felt a twinge of sympathy for the twins; they were all alone now. Not that it appeared to be affecting them. He hurriedly got out of the room. He didn't need to see dead people any more than he already had.


	4. Chapter 4: Stone

**4: Stone**

Kendra wouldn't say that she was friends with Darcy, but she did like him a lot more than she did when they had first met. It seemed that the appearance of Canis had breathed a new personality into him. His twin, Elaine, had appeared minutes after Seth left, and the wolf seemed to wake her up as well. Tanu had been amazed to walk in on Bracken, Kendra and the twins quite amiably talking and avoiding playful nips from the lupine.

Seth was still missing when Bracken and Kendra made a foray into the grounds to talk to the fairies. What they told them corresponded with Darcy's report.

"Where is he?" Kendra wondered as they re-entered the living room half an hour later. "It can't be taking him this long to explore."

"Maybe he got lost." Darcy drawled, sprawled on the couch with his long legs stretched out in front of him.

"Of course he didn't." Kendra said defensively.

Darcy shrugged and accepted the soda can Elaine handed him. "Yeah, well. It's a big house."

Bracken was studying some photos on the walls. "These are your parents?" He asked, pointing.

"Yeah. Alistair and Katherine."

Kendra took a look. "You look a lot like your dad."

"So I've heard."

Kendra found a small picture propped up on the mantelpiece with three kids in it. Two were clearly the twins; the third was a beautiful girl no older than they were, with the same apparent Chinese heritage. "Who's this?" She asked, turning around. Elaine's eyes widened and she quickly took it from Kendra.

"Our cousin." She said hastily. She and Darcy exchanged a look. Kendra didn't know what was going on, but apparently the twins weren't eager to divulge on their family any further. She could respect that; she wouldn't have shared all her family secrets with near strangers either.

Kendra hadn't taken a step back towards her seat when a man silently entered the room. Darcy and Elaine both jumped up in perfect synchronisation, producing weapons from seemingly nowhere. Elaine held two gleaming katanas threateningly, and judging from her familiar hold on them, she knew how to use them.

Bracken was unperturbed. "Eyoven." He said calmly, rising.

The man hastily knelt. "My lord."

"Please, rise."

Kendra saw Darcy shoot an odd glance at Bracken. She had already realised that the man, whom Bracken had called Eyoven, was an astrid, one of the warriors of the Fairy Queen, but Darcy didn't seem to have noticed and even if he did, Kendra didn't recall if they had mentioned that Bracken was the son of the Fairy Queen.

Elaine lowered her blades and exchange a glance with Darcy. They had a silent conversation. "Eyoven." Darcy said. "Who are you?"

Eyoven turned his tawny eyes onto Darcy, who met them unflinchingly. "An astrid, Darcy Long. A Knight of Dawn. You are fairystruck, are you not?"

"Certainly." Darcy's expression had slipped back into its former impassiveness, so the astrid looked as if he was talking to a block of stone. Something like contempt flashed across Eyoven's eyes, as though the astrid wondered how such a boy had been given the privilege of becoming fairystruck. "But that really is none of your-"

"Eyoven." Bracken cut in sharply. "What have you come to say?"

"There is someone who wishes to see you, my lord. A boy. He claims you have met."

Bracken's eyes narrowed. "I've met many boys."

"He did not tell me his name, but he looks like an angel. He said he would meet you by the river."

Bracken's eyes widened a fraction. "I thought I had seen the last of him," he muttered. Turning to Kendra, he said apologetically, "I must go and meet him."

"It's fine. Go."

Bracken nodded and left in a hurry. Darcy stared after him, his eyes slits, as though he might know the person Eyoven had described. "This boy," he said. "Was anyone with him?"

"No. He was alone." The astrid turned to leave, but before he did, he spoke to Kendra. "By the way, Kendra Sorenson, the Queen sends her regards."

Kendra flushed slightly under Darcy's surprised stare. "Thank you. I would return her greeting."

"You've met the Fairy Queen?" Darcy demanded.

"In a battle." Kendra said. "Yes. She helped us to fight the demons of Zzyzx."

Darcy muttered something under his breath that didn't sound very complimentary to Kendra. Elaine, ever the more silent one, eyed her twin shrewdly. As though they had a telepathic connection-a possibility Kendra hadn't entirely ruled out yet-Darcy's shoulders relaxed. "Well, I suppose it's going to take some time for Bracken to return. In the meantime, why don't we train?"

"Train?"

Darcy picked up one of Elaine's katanas and twirled it. His eyes gleamed with amusement. "Yes, Kendra Sorenson. Train."

The last time Kendra had properly fought with a sword, she had wielded the legendary sword Vasilis and slain the demon king Gorgrog at the entrance to Zzyzx. This time, standing in a grass patch with a training sword, she realised her swordsmanship left a lot to be desired.

"So tell me how you killed Gorgrog again?" Darcy grinned, pulling her to her feet and returning her her sword for the fifth time in a row.

"Magic sword." Kendra muttered, dusting herself off.

"That must've been it. I don't see you killing a demon king with your skills."

"Is that supposed to mean something?"

"If you're suggesting that I'm suggesting you're not very good at this, then yes." Darcy replied. "Haven't you ever done this before?"

"Without a magic sword?"

"Without a magic sword."

"Not really, no."

Darcy flashed her a smile, but it was more sly than cheerful. "Excellent. I get to claim credit for your improved skills." With a quick twist of his wrist he flicked Kendra's blade right out of her hand and caught it neatlly as it dived. Around them, Canis prowled like a sentry.

"Are you always this patronising when you train?"

"On the rare occasion that I feel like it." Darcy returned her the sword once again. "At least try and counter?" He lashed out again, and Kendra did her best to parry. Their swords clashed a few times before Darcy sidestepped and the tip of his sword tapped her throat. "That was better. Kind of." He looked back at Elaine, who was throwing things at a target. "Didn't you think that was better, Laine?"

Elaine, distracted, missed her next bullseye and muttered something in Mandarin as she went to retrieve her fallen projectile. Darcy laughed and replied in the same manner. "You speak Chinese?" Kendra asked.

"Surprised? My parents were Taiwanese. And besides, I speak several languages."

"What's the word for _self-praise _in Chinese?"

Darcy grinned. "_Zi kua, _if you must know. Now-" he demonstrated a vaguely familiar action with his sword; Kendra was sure she'd seen Warren or someone else employing it. "It's a basic counter. Try it." She repeated the movement, but while Darcy made it look easy, her effort felt mediocre. He shrugged. "You just need practice." He said, but his mouth quirked. "Is your brother this bad?"

"Well, firstly, I'm not _bad."_ Kendra said defensively. "Secondly, I doubt so. Seth is usually better at this stuff."

"Where is your brother, anyway? Not that I mind, of course."

"I don't know." Kendra said worriedly. "Do you think he's okay?"

"Ah, he'll be fine." Darcy said dismissively. "So, Bracken. Is he your boyfriend?"

Kendra felt her cheeks grow hot. "No. Well, kind of."

Darcy appraised her intently. "Where'd you meet a unicorn like that, anyway?"

"In a prison. It's a long story."

"And what's with the astrid addressing him as a lord?"

Kendra hesitated. "He's the Fairy Queen's son."

Darcy spluttered. "_What?"_

"It was a surprise to me, too." Kendra said placidly, swishing her sword in the air experimentally. Darcy gaped at her.

"_Fairy Queen's son?"_

"I see someone's been talking about me." Bracken appeared on the back porch of the house, frowning. He stuck his hands into the pockets of his jeans and walked down to meet them. His mouth curled in amusement when he realised what they were doing. "Are you teaching Kendra to swordfight?"

"Is that funny?" Kendra grumbled.

Bracken's mouth quirked. "A little bit."

Kendra threw her hands up in exasperation. "Just because I've never had proper training..."

"I could have taught you if you wanted."

Kendra shrugged. "You're not around that often." She said, attempting to hide the undertones in her voice suggesting he _should _come around more often. "And Darcy suggested it, not me." She studied Bracken. "You look flustered." She was more acutely aware of his emotions, somehow. Maybe it was their shared fairy magic, or maybe he was just easier to read.

"My informant had some pressing news." Bracken said lightly. "But it doesn't concern you, Kendra. However..." His silver eyes flitted from her to Darcy to Elaine. "Where is Seth?"

"That's just what we were wondering." Darcy said smoothly.

Bracken frowned. His hand trailed uneasily to his own sword, sheathed at his side as usual. "I had better go look for him." He disappeared back inside the house. Darcy wrinkled his nose.

"That spoiled my appetite for training today." He dropped the sword and flopped onto the grass, his lean frame hugging the ground and black hair splayed out. Eyes closed, he addressed his sister. "Laine, are we going to stay here?"

Elaine shot a sideways glance at Kendra before replying in a rapid dialect. Darcy opened one eye and turned his head to look at her questioningly. Elaine shrugged. Apparently thinking no more of it, he faced the sky again and answered in kind. Kendra felt as though they were doing it on purpose, or at least Elaine had deliberately chosen to discuss the topic in a language only the two of them understood.

"Your friend Tanugatoa has made arrangements for us, I believe." Darcy said to Kendra, finally. "I think-"

"Darcy!" Bracken strode down the steps, all trace of friendliness gone. "Give me your hands."

Elaine lowered her next knife and frowned. Darcy was equally bemused. "My hands?"

Kendra knew what this implied Bracken had found something to make him distrust the twins. "Bracken, what-"

"Not now, Kendra. _Your hands."_ He demanded. He radiated fury. Darcy, still nonplussed, held them out. Bracken seized his hands and after a tense silence replaced them. SIlently, he gestured for Elaine to do the same. As confused as her brother, Elaine complied.

Only when he let go did Bracken relax. "What was that?" The twins demanded, the same time Kendra asked, "what happened?"

Bracken held up a hand to silence them. "I found Seth." He said grimly. "He's been turned to stone."

Kendra gasped. The twins exchanged wide-eyed looks. "Tanu." Bracken called. The large Samoan strode out, carrying a statue in his arms. Kendra paled and ran to him. It was Seth, all right, but perfectly sculpted in smooth grey stone. Canis sniffed Seth's immobilised hand.

"How did this happen? A potion?"

Bracken shook his head. "A curse. A curse protecting the twins' room," he added, looking at the two in question with slitted eyes. "They're trustworthy, Tanu. But perhaps not completely truthful." Looking at the twins now, Kendra thought they looked like scared hildren. Bracken, no matter how old he appeared to be, was hundreds of years old, and he was the Fairy Queen's son. He was a leader, as Kendra had seen at Zzyxz, and that gave him authority.

"Can't you turn him back?" She asked desperately.

Tanu and Bracken both shook their heads gravely. "If he was _encased _in stone, yes. But he's turned completely to stone. It's a spell I haven't come across before." Bracken's eyes narrowed. He was thinking of something. "Perhaps I should return home and ask more expert practitioners."

Kendra was slightly startled. "But you just got here."

The corners of Bracken's mouth lifted. "I'll see you again soon, Kendra." He promised. His expression grew grimmer when he glanced back at Seth. "I _will _restore your brother to normal." He said, half as though assuring himself.

Kendra looked from the twins' impassive faces, to Seth's stony one, to Bracken's and to Tanu's. She had an uneasy feeling that 'normal' was long gone.


	5. Chapter 5: Trio

**5: Trio**

Kendra found the new students strangely familiar. She also found them plain strange.

Both were tall, thin and good-looking. Kendra didn't care, however, what they looked like-she was slightly more unnerved by the fact that they always seemed to be _around._ Although they were too old to be in any of her classes, she always saw one or both of them milling around just outside her classroom whenever she stepped out. She couldn't sit down at a table during break without seeing either of them a table or two away.

"He's cute, though, isn't he?" Kendra's friend Alyssa mused when Kendra voiced her opinion.

"Evan's a senior," Kendra reminded her flatly, unappreciative of the reminder that they were there, "besides, cute guys aren't always what they seem. Remember Chase?"

Alyssa wrinkled her nose at the memory of the kobold. "Yeah. Well. He's still cute."

Kendra didn't reply. What with the Longs and all, she'd had enough of odd siblings to last a lifetime. The rest of her friends, however, took up the topic excitedly, giggling behind their hands and sneaking glances across, divulging all they knew about Evan and Jania Warner. For Kendra's part, it wasn't as though she wasn't thinking about them. On the contrary, she was trying to figure out why they looked so familiar. Was it something about their eyes? Their mouth? The way they moved?

"Psst. Kendra."

Kendra swiveled her head.

"_Kendra."_ A piece of paper dropped into her lap, but there was no one around. Was the person _invisible?_ Kendra's first thought was that it was Seth, but then she remembered with a pang that Seth was a statue. Discreetly, she unfolded the note. Sprawling letters told her to go to the nearby Starbucks after school. It wasn't signed. Kendra stared at it for a while. Who had sent it? Or rather, who had delivered it?

"What's that?" Before Kendra could hide the note, Alyssa had leaned over to read it. "Ooh, a secret meeting?" She teased. "Guys, look!"

"Hey!" Kendra stuffed it into her pocket, cheeks flushed. "It's nothing. I don't even know who sent it."

"A secret admirer! That's so sweet!"

Kendra sighed. It was going to be a long lunch.

Kendra felt strange leaving school without Seth trailing after her. She felt even stranger walking into Starbucks to meet a complete-well-_stranger._ She didn't know if it was a girl, or a guy, how they looked like, what they were wearing. She hovered uncertainly at the doorway, wondering whether she should buy a coffee.

"Kendra?"

Kendra spun around. She felt, at the same time, apprehension and relief. She actually wasn't surprised to find that it was Evan, with Jania behind him. "Have you been following me?" She demanded.

"No, no. Of course not." Jania said quickly, looking almost scandalised at the thought. She steered both of them to a table. Kendra hesitantly sat. Evan lingered on his feet, pulling out his wallet.

"Drink?"

That's when Kendra realised. Or rather-she _knew_. She knew what had been bugging her from the start, just watching how Evan's mouth formed the word, how he held out the wallet in his hands. She should have seen it from the start. Now that she did see it, she could visualise a different place, a different drink, and a different person. It was all too clear, although nearly impossible. Even the way their eyes slanted slightly- "the Sphinx." She said softly. "You're related to the Sphinx."

Evan's face fell flat. "Jania, tell her." He said tonelessly, turning away to the barista, some high school girl who looked interestedly at him. Kendra looked questioningly at Jania, who looked as though she was trying very hard to keep her emotions in check. When she didn't say anything, Evan turned back a quarter twist. "Jania!"

Jania drummed her fingers on the table. "Yes, we are."

Kendra just gaped at her. "How?"

Jania stared firmly at the spot above Kendra's head. "We're like fifteen generations apart, but… yes. We're down from his uncle's side. How did you guess?"

"Evan." Kendra said. "Once, the Sphinx offered me a drink, too."

"Oh." Jania paused, wondering what level of humour was appropriate here. "Coke?"

Kendra smiled slightly. "I got the Font of Immortality, actually."

Jania laughed. "Tough luck."

Evan returned with a tray. Jania eyed the three coffees and scones. "I thought you only had twelve bucks."

"I got a discount." Evan shrugged.

"From… Lana?" Jania said shrewdly, raising her eyebrows.

Evan looked mildly impressed. "Did you suddenly develop telepathy, J?"

"It's on her nametag, Ev."

"Oh, right." Evan looked vaguely abashed.

"Can I have my coffee, or not?" Jania handed a cup to Kendra and sipped one of her own. "Ev, we need to tell her. Now."

Evan sighed and dropped into the chair opposite. "Okay. Kendra, where do you want to start?" He raised his cup and looked appraisingly at her over the rim.

Kendra propped her chin up by her elbows and frowned, her other hand stirring the coffee. "From the start would be good. Or maybe how you found me." Evan and Jania looked at each other and quickly had one of those silent discussions that people who know each other well enough can have.

"We found you through a chain of... acquaintances." Jania looked like she'd been about to say _friends_, but changed her mind at the last moment. "First there was this kid, then he had a friend who knew this pair of twins whose parents were connected to the Knights and through the Knights we found the Sphinx. And he led us to you."

Kendra was still processing this when Jania finished. "Hang on. Twins?" It seemed like an uncanny coincidence, but after a year or so in Fablehaven, you started to learn that not many things _were _coincidences.

"Yeah." Evan polished off a scone. "Didn't talk to them specifically, but they were the Longs."

Kendra's throat closed up momentarily. "Elaine and Darcy." She said. "You talked to their parents."

"Just a few days before they were killed." Jania said softly, as though the decreased volume would make it better somehow. She looked like the type of person, Kendra thought, that would try and make it the least painful she possibly could. "Alistair and Katherine were amazing."

"You know the twins too." Evan observed. "Are they all right? I mean... after their parents died?"

"Yeah, they seem... okay." Kendra searched for the right word to place them. She remembered how odd the twins had been when they first opened the door: emotionless, spiritless. "It is kind of weird meeting them and then you guys." Two pairs of drastically different siblings, back to back, and it made Kendra wish for Seth even more. She'd easily put up with all his jokes and annoyances if here were just _there_.

Everyone was doing everything in their power to reverse the spell on Seth, but there had been no luck yet. Bracken had yet to return from his mother's realm. Her friends at school were great, and everyone at home was great, but she needed someone her own age-or at least someone who _looked _her own age-to talk to about all this.

"We heard about your brother."

Kendra blinked. "How much _do _you know?"

"A fair bit." Evan answered sheepishly. "But-you still want to know about us?"

"By all means." Kendra gestured listlessly, already distracted by thoughts of Seth, and Bracken, and the twins, and everything else that had been happening lately. She just needed someone to tell her what to _do_.

"Jania and I aren't anything special, not like you. I mean-we only got introduced to magic recently. But before that, we did have things to take up our time. I hacked and coded and programmed, and I got in pretty deep to some secure mainframes, which was how that kid found us." Before Kendra even had the opportunity to ask her billion questions about that one sentence alone, he plowed on. "Jania... Jania has connections. Black market, government, underworld, national sports teams, Victoria's Secret runway-you name it, she's got it, or she can get it. She just has this thing where she can connect with people."

"Evan, let her talk." Jania sighed. "You must have a lot of questions."

Kendra's mind spun through the said questions until she closed in on her most pressing one. "Who's this kid?"

"He-uh-he didn't want us to release his actual name." Jania said carefully. "But he said if we needed to tell anyone, it was Max. Maxwell Chandler."

"Okay. So you hacked, and _you _have connections, and you're also the descendants of the Sphinx who found me because...?"

"We'd always known about the Sphinx, but we never actually got to meet him until a couple of weeks ago. When Alistair and Katherine Long were killed, the Knights figured the more of us the better-and that six should make a pretty strong team."

"Hang on, backtrack. Six of us?"

"The two of us, the twins, you and Seth." Evan said rapidly. "They think we're-uh-how did they put it? Oh-'valuable resources that have to be protected'. Which basically means between the six of us we've got stuff that they can't get their hands on anywhere else and they want to make sure we don't end up in the wrong hands."

Kendra smiled faintly. She was sure the Knights had good intentions, but Evan saw through their careful wording like it was made of glass. "So have you talked to the twins yet?"

The Warners shook their heads in unison. "We were hoping you'd go with us." Evan admitted.

"Okay. Sure." _Homework can wait,_ Kendra thought. She had to admit she was a little curious to find out what the Knights wanted them for. "Now?"

"It's a good a time as any." Jania said amiably. Her expression turned to one of horror when she looked down. "Evan! You ate all the scones!"

"I _got _them. It's not my fault you didn't eat any."

Jania rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You owe me scones now."

Their bickering painfully reminded Kendra-again-of Seth. They continued to argue all the way to Jania's-or was it Evan's?-car, sleek and silver but nothing like Vanessa Santoro's high-speed vehicles. Unfortunately, Evan's driving was _exactly _like Vanessa's, except in a less stable car, which meant that Kendra was gripping on to the seat and praying that her seatbelt would hold the entire hair-raising ride.

"They're staying here? By themselves?" Evan said critically when they finally got off.

"Tanu deemed them 'capable of independency'." Kendra explained, making air quotes with her fingers. "Warren checks in on them occasionally." The apartment building was decent, but low-key, nothing like the twins' previous home. Still, the few times Kendra had visited, they seemed perfectly fine with the arrangement.

They took the lift up to the third floor, where apartment 3A sat nicely outside the landing. Kendra knocked; they waited a few moemnts before the door opened.

Darcy stood in the doorway. He blinked, taking in the trio, and in the next second, his knife soared past Kendra.


	6. Chapter 6: Giza

**6: Giza**

Kendra didn't even have time to scream before Evan spun, dodging, ducked past Kendra, and pinned Darcy against the wall. "Look," Evan growled, "I don't know what the hell your problem is, and you might have some skills, but I'm bigger and stronger and I will _not _let you take me by surprise."

Kendra rather thought _she_ was more surprised than Evan. Darcy didn't usually go around throwing knives at people.

"Evan," Jania started, but her words were swallowed by her following scream as Canis' hundred and thirty pounds of muscle leapt across the room and sank its teeth into Evan's leg.

Chaos erupted. Evan cried out, Jania was screaming and running over, a fifth voice was yelling "Canis!" over the tumult. The wolf released Evan, who sank to the ground, face white, puncture holes in his leg spilling scarlet. Elaine pulled Canis away, almost as pale as Evan. "I'm so, so sorry. He was just protecting Darcy."

Kendra made her way over to Evan. She'd only ever seen a few people react that quickly, and they had all been seasoned fighters in the battle at the demon prison. Jania was inspecting the wound on Evan's leg, surprisingly composed. "It's deep, but nothing tore and it didn't severe an artery. Do you have a first aid kit?"

"I'll get it." Kendra volunteered. Jania might be fine with it, but the strong tang of the blood was unpleasant.

When she returned, Elaine was huddled deep in discussion with Darcy, who spoke and gestured furiously. Jania expertly cleaned and dressed Evan's wound, refusing to let him do it, a desire he expressed vocally and repeatedly. Kendra made a mental note to pick up first aid.

The twins were as silent and expressionless as when Kendra had first met them. Over the past week, she had concluded that it was their instictive defence rather than their actual personality.

Looking from them to a sullen Evan to a worried Jania, Kendra figured she'd better start. "Darcy," she began, since it was her most burning question, "what was _that _all about?"

Darcy's mouth thinned. "Why don't _you _tell us," he shot at Evan coldly and almost mockingly, "_Giza?_"

Evan's eyes widened. "What do you know about that?" He said finally.

"A lot more than you'd like, I bet." Darcy snapped. His emotionless wall was quickly breaking.

"Evan," said Jania suspiciously, "what's Giza?"

Kendra didn't feel like pointing it out, but Giza was clearly a who-and that who was Evan. _Giza, Sphinx- _Evan could not have picked a better or more obvious alias. She couldn't figure out what it had to do with Darcy, though.

Evan sighed. "Giza is my online alias."

Jania folded her arms and stared Evan down, finally looking the authoritative older sister. "_Online alias?"_

He sighed again, defeated. "Hacker alias."

"_And?"_

Kendra was reminded of all the times she'd caught Seth trading with the satyrs. For the third time that day since meeting Jania and Evan, she thought painfully of her brother.

Evan slumped helplessly under his sister's relentless onslaught. "I did jobs for people. I got information, tracked people down, disabled or wrote systems, anything, if the price was high enough."

"_And you never told me?"_

"I knew you would have stopped me, and I couldn't let you! Where do you think all our money came from, Jania? When mom was sick or dad was in trouble and needed bail?! When they were going to take our house? When _you _tangled with the wrong people? All thsoe times we didn't have money and suddenly we did?! Where did you think that came from? It came from _me!_ I saved our family time and time again, screw my methods!" Evan was breathing heavily by the end of it. Jania looked like she'd been slapped. Evan swallowed and looked at Darcy. "So what did I do to you?"

"You sold my parents out." Darcy said tightly. Elaine placed a warning hand on his shoulder. "September fourth, six years ago." He tossed a file at Evan.

There was a silence as Evan pulled out a few sheets of paper. Lines of text and numbers were printed on it. They didn't make sense to Kendra, but Evan blanched. "This was Alistair and Katherine?"

"Don't talk like you knew them."

"_Evan..."_

"Cut it out, J." Evan exhaled. "Six years ago, when I was starting the jobs, and mom fell sick, I took up this one even though it was kind of shady because it was a lot of momey and we needed it, fast. I extracted money from these bank accounts and transferred it to the client. Then I doctored some records and documetns, extracted and decrypted classified documents. I was never given the names or faces of the victims and I didn't want them. I preferred things to remain anonymous."

"You crippled us in six different countries. My parents lost almost everything, and because you blew their cover, they couldn't operate as covert agents for the Knights. We'd _just _gotten stabilised when _you _came along, and they _helped you_."

"I didn't know." Evan murmured. "I couldn't have."

"Who was the client?" Elaine questioned, calmer than her brother.

"I'm not sure. Their alias was Jake Kage." Evan wrote the name down on the sheet. "Look. I'm sorry. I didn't know. I was twelve, and my mother was dying. I didn't have a choice."

"You saved your family at the expense of mine. Laine and I were _eight years old_. Forgive me if I don't accept that."

"Forgive _me _if I don't accept you throwing knives at me."

"It was a katana."

"It was _my _katana." Elaine frowned. "Darcy, stop it. We can't do anything about it anymore."

Within the next few minutes, Kendra, Jania and Elaine became bystanders to a highly tense conflict that almost resulted in injury again, except that Elain jumped up to restrain her twin and Jania started yelling at Evan again. Kendra did infer, however, from the shouting match, that if the Knights wanted them to be a team, it was going to be much harder than anyone had foreseen.

"So," Kendra started two hours later, when things had finally calmed down enough for them to all sit down and eat dinner at the same table without Evan and Darcy doing any more than glower at each other. Kendra frankly would have backed off if either of them had looked at her like that, but apparently neither of them shared her sentiments. "Evan. Where did you learn to move like that?" The question was more awkward in voice than in her head.

"He does parkour." Jania answered for him. "And I do dance. Don't ask him about parkour though, because if you get him started he'll never shut up."

"You mean, more than usual?" Darcy said innocently, lifting noodles to his mouth with chopsticks that he and Elaine handled with more finesse than anyone Kendra had ever met. It was also Kendra's first time eating dinner with a wolf staring at her throughout the entire meal.

"That's so cool." Kendra put in before Evan could retort. "Seth would be more into it than me, though."

"I'd love to teach him." Evan offered. "I mean, after we sort this whole thing out."

"What _is _this thing, exactly?" Jania wondered. Her last words were swallowed by the harsh ringing of Kendra's phone. Thankful to escape the table, Kendra went off to answer it. It was her mother, and she did not sound happy.

"Kendra, where have you _been?_"

Kendra cringed. She had forgotten to tell anyone she was going to the Long's. It was rather inconsiderate of her, seeing that she'd been kidnapped a couple of times. She quickly explained her after-school activities to her mother. Marla was still adjusting to having a daughter who consorted with fairies and had a unicorn as an almost-boyfriend.

"Mom, it's fine." Kendra was feeling uncharacteristically bold that day, and she went for a Seth-like approach to the whole thing. "I'm not far, I'm with friends, we're just eating dinner. I'll be back as soon as possible."

There was a short pause. Her mother was probably trying to figure out what to say about it all. Before she could, however, another voice, muffled and distant, cut in. Kendra couldn't make out what the third party was saying, but she'd recognise Vanessa's voice anywhere.

"Hey, Kendra." Vanessa said cheerfully, after a moment's squabble with Marla for the phone.

"Hi."

"The Knights have just sent an invitation for a meeting. It's tomorrow night, at the Fairbanks'." Pause. "You're expected to be there, of course."

"If Grandpa's the Captain, why are they still sending invitations?"

"It's just a formality." Vanessa replied.

Kendra didn't have very good sentiments about her first meeting. She'd gotten a crush on an evil dragon. "But no masks, right?" The perceived need for anonymity had been the very reason the Sphinx had been able to hide for so long in plain sight as the Captain.

"Actually," Vanessa sounded like she was suppressing a smile, "the hosts are using it to double as a banquet. They're holding a masquerade ball."

"We have to dress up?!"

"You got it. Any of the twins there?"

"Both." Kendra handed the phone to them. They in turn had a silent squabble for the phone before it ended up with Darcy. Whatever Vanessa told him, he wasn't expecting it. He mouthed something to Elaine, all while nodding along to Vanessa's voice. Elain pressed her ear to the other side of the phone. It was a rather bizzare sight, as though they had suddenly become conjoined twins.

"Kendra," Vanessa said when the phone was returned, "the twins are going to be going with you to the masquerade. It shouldn't be a problem, given their parents were highly respected among the Knights. The _real _problem is Evan and Jania-"

"Wait, how do you know about them?"

"Your grandparents have been keeping secrets, but the Sphinx himself updated all of us on his family relations this morning. Now, I'm sure they're good people, and we need their help, but it's not going to be a smooth ride getting them in even if Stan _is _the Captain. Security's tightened since the Sphinx and, well, me." Kendra was reminded that Vanessa was still on probation. The Knights didn't respond to betrayal kindly.

"But the Knights are the ones who wanted our help."

"Which is why I'm more confident than not."

Kendra wondered why Vanessa was the one making all these decisions, or at least relaying them to her. Usually it was Grandma, Grandpa or Warren. Her question was answered by Warren's muffled voice in the background. Apparently the narcoblix was just a proxy. "Who else is back there?"

"Just Warren." Vanessa said vaguely. "I was closer to the phone."

"Any news about Seth?"

"No. I'm sorry, Kendra, everyone's doing their utmost." Pause. "Kendra, you should be heading back. It's getting late. You got a ride back?"

Kendra figured she could probably get one from Evan and Jania. "I'm good." She replied.

"Okay. See you." The click told Kendra she'd put down.

"Looks like we're all going to a party tomorrow." She flopped back into her seat. "It's a masquerade."

"We heard." The twins said in unison. They didn't sound happy about it. In contrast, Jania brightened.

"Oh, great." Evan groaned. "J's going to go crazy now."

"Come on, Ev." Jania nudged her brother. "Be excited for once." She smiled and nodded at Kendra. "Need a ride back home?"

"Yes, please."

"Okay. Let's go, Ev. Nice meeting you, Darcy, Elaine." Jania ushered Kendra and Evan out, ignoring his muttering about the bite on his leg and his complaints about being babysitted. "I'm the adult here, Ev."

"I'm eighteen!"

"I'm twenty-one. I'm still older than you." Jania rolled her eyes.

The drive to Fablehaven-Jania drove, thank God, because Kendra couldn't have taken more of Evan's Vanessa-esque driving-wasn't long, but it was quiet. Strangely, Kendra started to feel the age gap, although they were at most five or six years apart. It didn't help that Jania's easy natural grace made Kendra feel self-conscious. It was funny how Vanessa had never had that effect on her, and she'd never really been intimidated by Warren, handsome and fearless, but bring in a pair a little closer to her age and it was like she'd taken another of Tanu's doubt potions.

It was dark by the time they pulled up outside the house.

"Good evening." Kendra was waiting for her, leaning against the doorframe with a grin on her face. "Kendra, I love this new rebellious streak. Your mother was frantic." She held her finger to her lips conspiratorally. "I convinced her I'd take care of it."

"Hello," Warren grinned when they walked in. Kendra had the weirdest feeling that whenever she came home these days there were people waiting all around the house to pop up and check on her. He was swirling something clear that looked like champagne in a glass. "Kendra, I think this a first!"

"I _forgot."_ Kendra protested.

"Sure."

"I did!" She looked accusingly from Vanessa to Warren. "Hang on. Did I-were you-did I interrupt something?" She asked suspiciously, the corners of her mouth lifting involuntarily.

Warren smirked. "Well, if you really want to know-ow!" Vanessa elbowed him sharply.

"_Nothing _happed, Warren Burgess." Vanessa glared. "Didn't you say you were busy? Don't you have a _meeting tomorrow?"_

Warren waved it away. "Yeah, but it's all on Stan for the most part. I've already done my share for the night. Champagne?" He offered Kendra. "Then we can talk about the Warners."

"How did everyone know about them but me?" Kendra grumbled. She tried the champagne, nonetheless. Her mother would probably disapprove, but she wasn't around to chide her.

"While you were in school, the Sphinx came by to mention them. They look like him," Vanessa added thoughtfully. "Good looking, too."

"Mmm." Warren replied disinterestedly, attention caught by the box on the coffee table. It looked like an old-fashioned jewellery box, with a clasp in the shape of a sun. Kendra had never seen it before. Warren opened it and pulled out a piece of paper. "Agad's agreed to come down for the meeting." It was an odd place to keep a note, Kendra thought, even as Warren pulled a pen from his pocket, scribbled something onto it, and put it back.

At first Kendra didn't get it. It wasn't until Warren glanced into the box once more and extracted the note. It had other writing on it this time-writing that wasn't Warren's. "It's like the tins!" Kendra realised excitedly. "It's linked to another box that Agad has!"

Warren nodded. "Got these ones among the mound of stuff Vanessa got from the satyrs. They didn't quite realise what it was."

"They still haven't grasped about you two?" Kendra grinned, now quite at ease on her favourite chair.

Vanessa waggled her finger. "Don't you start on me, miss _am-I-am-I-not-dating-the-fairy-prince."_

"Oh, _well,"_ Kendra started indignantly, but then felt her phone buzz in her pocket. It was a text from Jania, who had apparently taken the liberty of putting in her contact information, although Kendra couldn't imagine when. _Pick you up at 9 tomorrow. Going shopping. Jania._

Kendra sighed. Apparently there would be no escaping this masquerade.


End file.
